Interview with Justin Taylor of Knight of the Round
When one thinks of outstanding musical arrangements, many out there would probably wouldn’t guess that would come from video games. NES and SNES would especially get that notion going, with unbelievable melodies and songwriting, all within an average of 2-3 minute loops; Mega Man, Mega Man X, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire 2, and one important series we cannot forget: Final Fantasy. Not only one of the most adored RPG franchises for the past 30 plus years, but also containing some of the most gorgeous and compelling songs you’ll ever hear. Enter Knight of the Round: An Instrumental Metal band dedicated solely to Final Fantasy. Their most recent record released earlier this year, SEVEN, all from Final Fantasy VII, quite possibly the best game in the series. I had the chance to discuss the record with Justin Taylor, founder, main songwriter, and guitarist for Knight of the Round. We talked about the band’s situation in regards to COVID-19, how Instrumental Metal music is made, how to properly play and be inspired with covering songs, the details on how SEVEN was made, and more!
SEVEN album cover (Designed, drawn and created by Jelena Taylor)
Metalchondria: First and foremost, Justin, I wanted to say thank you very much for your time! Most importantly, I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe during this Covid-19 era we’re currently sitting in. The amount of devastation through the music industry, businesses, travel, and sadly the most tragic aspect, the number of people dying from this, it’s surreal how this has all occurred in under two months. How have you been dealing with the virus from where you are, and with the amount of free time you may or may not have extra, has there been extra music writing for Knight of the Round, or anything else regarding the band?
Justin Taylor: I think we released our newest album SEVEN at both the best and worst of times. It was planned around the release of the FFVII Remake, which obviously helped us from a marketing perspective, but we are now in a position where we can’t support it with concerts due to all of the shutdowns. It’s definitely a bummer, because we had some exciting shows to announce for the summer which are no longer happening. I’ve personally been using the extra free time to catch up on my backlog of video games I needed to play (FFVII Remake included, of course). And speaking for myself, I’m still a little fatigued from the writing/recording of the new album.
Talk to me about your musical upbringing, in terms of what got you into Metal, and how Knight of the Round formed?
I guess I had an unconventional introduction to metal. I grew up listening to mostly rap music, and didn’t get into heavier music until high school when I got heavily into Rage Against the Machine, followed shortly by the nu metal craze. I went full-on metal mode in my late teens and eventually played in some local metal bands in my late teens/early twenties. A band I was on (Iscariot) ended up getting signed to a small label which led to a ton of touring in my mid-twenties. It was when that band started to stop touring when I started making Final Fantasy covers under the “Knight of the Round” moniker. In early 2012 it was transformed into a full band.
Since Knight of the Round is based off of all music from the Final Fantasy world, and I’ll get to the question about the band momentarily, anyone who has their band inspired by such an impeccable and fantastic franchise, what were your first memories growing up in terms of video games, and how did they influence you, in terms of the person you are today, and as well as your Metal tastes? You and I both know that several video game tracks, especially from the SNES days, had a various amount of Metal influence, especially bands such as Powerglove and more, inspired by the Mega Man X soundtrack and etc.
My earliest memories were from the late Atari consoles as well as the NES, but SNES was my first time I was really “blown away” by video games. To be totally honest, the music was never something I really paid TOO much attention to (or so I thought) at the time. It would take me falling in love with the FFVII soundtrack to really make me appreciate video game music as a whole. I would then go back and listen to older SNES and NES soundtracks for nostalgic reasons and be surprised that there was a LOT of absolutely brilliant music back then, especially considering technical limitations of older consoles.
I find it fascinating that the entire discography from Knight of the Round, is entirely from Final Fantasy only. There are countless tracks from the franchise that are vastly memorable and astonishing, Kefka’s Theme from FFVI, Distant Memory from Final Fantasy IX, to name a few. Was the decision for the band to do solely Final Fantasy material based off the love of the franchise and its quality, or because perhaps the band felt doing other video game songs would come off as “gimmicky?”
Justin Taylor of Knight of the Round live in concert (Aminoapps)
When I started the project, it was meant to definitely stay Final Fantasy only. It was the series that made me fall in love with video game music, so this was meant to be a tribute specifically to that. We also have come to the understanding that we need to stick to that niche, as the video game music scene continues to grow. Plus, there is SO much material to work with while staying FF only!
I reviewed Seven a couple of weeks ago, and I loved the record. Not only my favorite Final Fantasy, but also my favorite video game ever. I pointed out in the review, that the balance of staying inspired from the soundtracks of the game, as well as Knight of the Round’s musical input and songwriting alongside of it, was excellent. These wouldn’t exactly be considered full covers, since the band is performing original riffs, songs, melodies and more on each track. How do you start the process of a song in this format? Are there any “rules” or particular methods that you keep in mind while writing, such as finding the balance of keeping true to certain parts, and going more your direction in others?
It’s a pretty tough balance to maintain, honestly. We don’t want to be a note-for-note cover band (not that anything is wrong with that), but we also want these songs to be VERY recognizable to people who are familiar with the soundtracks. Another layer to that is that if we are choosing songs that have already been covered by other bands, we try to make sure ours stands apart. We don’t necessarily have “rules” per say but if a song loses it’s “feel” from the original, we just won’t release it. I have around 10 songs that have been started by never finished because they simply just “didn’t work” for us.
One aspect of Seven I felt was important to note, were the keyboard/synth tracks used. The amount of atmosphere that was captured in “Opening – Bombing Mission”, and “Shinra, Inc.”, for example, brought out the emotional draw we all did to each moment of FFVII, quite beautifully. Seeing that it was you who performed those tracks, me being a below-average guitar player, what was it like for you incorporating the heavy riffing alongside the synths and keyboard tracks? Do you generally start with the riffs and eventually get to the synth?
I always write the “real instruments” first and add synth layers over those. Adding layers to our music is something that I didn’t really do when I first started this project, but it’s become one of my favorite aspects of arranging!
When I heard that Seven was to be released, I knew instantly Sephiroth would be represented, of course in “One-Winged Angel.” I felt it was the strongest and most incredible track on the record, especially the middle section. The delicate touches of the original song blending so well with the sharp guitar work, . Was there pressure to deliver on one of the more well-known tracks of the Final Fantasy franchise, or did you treat it the same as normal?
Oh absolutely. This was one of our most requested songs from our friends and fans, and probably the most intimidating song I could imagine. However, it became a little less intimidating after tackling “Dancing Mad” on our last release. Once I knew how I was going to start that song, I demoed it out and everyone in the band loved it, and I just went from there and had the majority of that arrangement done in around a week.
Original cover of Final Fantasy VII, released in North America in the fall of 1997 (Squaresoft)
In terms of the songwriting, instrumental tracks generally are created differently than songs with vocals. Many bands will use more repetition, to allow the music to “speak” in a way, such as an emphasis more on choruses. What are things that you keep in mind when making the music? We both come from a background musically that doesn’t generally involve simple songwriting or approaches, we’re used to instrumental tracks and long passages, but for others, it may take them longer to appreciate what they’re hearing. Does each track possess a different mentality to write in terms of the instrumental aspect, or is there a similar formula you already have down for it?
Generally speaking, I don’t TRY to follow a specific formula when I’m arranging KOTR songs. I usually go off feel. However, the majority of the time, i find myself relying on the intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/end formula, because it seems to work the best. Let’s face it, there’s a reason why that formula is successful! At the same time, if the source material doesn’t call for it, then that formula just won’t work.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been on this personal mission to figure out more aspects of what I like to call, “Extreme Abstract Metal”. From bands such as Augury, Anata, maudlin of the Well, Lykathea Aflame, Beyond Creation, Gorod, Vitriol, Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate, and many more, I feel it’s a level of Metal that was mostly made around the 2000s. The song structures, chords used, emotional turmoil channeled, those bands and others, I feel are just different and take a lot of time to comprehend and to feel, what they do. I’m sure you’ve heard of a few on that list, if not more I may have forgotten to mention, what you do think about the styles that those bands play, and as a guitar player, what do you hear that they do that immediately connects with you?
I am definitely familiar with some of those bands. As a guitarist I’ve learned that I’ve always taken a more rhythm and groove-based approach to listening to new music. Gorod, for example, are super groovy and because of that I was able to connect with their music instantly when I first heard them. I will later hear the layers of intricacy in their music and grow to appreciate it more over time rather than just being a “headbanger”.
I admittingly didn’t know much about Magfest, and I saw the pictures of the band playing to an incredible amount of people that day, as I wasn’t quite sure if it was mostly Metal fans or video game fans that attend Magfest. Was this the first time the band performed at that festival? And tell me overall of your experience attending and performing Magfest, last year?
We actually have performed at 4 MAGFest’s, and have also played some of their offshoot concerts such as MAGLabs and BitGen Gamer Fest. Our third show ever was MAGFest 11, back in 2013. We’ve built a great support system on the years with the MAGFest staff (both past and present) and we really cherish the friends we’ve made on the East coast. The first time we played there we felt like we were transported to another dimension or something because everyone was SO supportive of each other, which is vastly different from the metal and hardcore scenes we were used to playing in with our old bands.
Unfortunately, the music industry is on hold due to the virus, and bands right now are either doing live chats, performing in their studios, and creating new music. Does this change the trajectory of how much new music you were already writing, or is the schedule of writing material the same, regardless of the virus? Also, what can the fans out there do specifically in terms of helping Knight of the Round out, with merchandise, vinyl purchases, etc?
Essentially, all of our summer concerts are cancelled. We planned on making another east coast run this summer AND in the fall, and there’s a good chance that neither of those will happen now. The other bad thing about releasing an album before the pandemic is that it doesn’t make sense business-wise for us to focus on a new album right away. Let’s be honest, we’d be silly if we cranked out another album this year, or even next year. However, I do have some ideas for new songs already, so maybe I’ll get to demoing those out soon and save them for later.
The remake of Final Fantasy VII released for the PS4, 24 years after the original (Square Enix)
My last question for you, and I again greatly appreciate your time! On a lighter note, how has the Final Fantasy 7 Remake experience been for you? I just walked in Wall Market and am just profoundly thrilled at how much work and detail this remake has been. I also love the Japanese dialogue; it feels spirited and properly cast. Anything else from your vantage point that you noticed and picked up on, and something that you’re blown away by?
Honestly, I think they did an absolutely phenomenal job with the Remake. I’m actually surprised how faithful it is the the original so far. I’m happy with how much of Midgar was expanded upon, while still keeping it close enough to the original. They did JUST the right amount of tweaking to the game to “modernize” it without making it a COMPLETELY different game. Hats off to Tetsuya Nomura and his team for the remarkable job they did, and I think Masashi Hamauzau’s work on the soundtrack solidified his position as one of the best arrangers in the industry.
Seven - “One Winged Angel”
Knight of the Round links and media info: